Born in Lisbon, Connecticut, Simon Perkins, Sr. (1771-1844) moved to Oswego, New York in 1795. In 1798 he became employed by the Erie Land Company to explore the Connecticut Western Reserve and would eventually acquire a great deal of land for very little money. He married Nancy Anna Bishop of Lisbon on March 18, 1804 and moved to Warren where he was Postmaster from 1801-29. Perkins was a Brigadier General of the Militia. During the War of 1812, General Perkins took command of troops in defense of the northwestern frontier against the British and the Indians. In 1813 he organized the Western Reserve Bank and served as president until 1836. Perkins gave Akron its name, collaborating with Paul Williams to design the original 300-lot city in 1825 and with Judge Leicester King and Dr. Eliakim Crosby to create North Akron in 1831. Mr. Perkins was the Ohio Canal Fund Commissioner from 1826-38 and organized the Portage Canal and Manufacturing Company with Dr. Eliakim Crosby, Frederick Wadsworth and others in 1837. In 1840 he donated land between North and South Akron for the construction of government buildings for the new county seat.
This image appeared on page 34 of Samuel Lane's Fifty Years and over of Akron and Summit County.